Morgan Stanley ventures into cryptocurrency spot trading
According to Bloomberg, Wall Street giant Morgan Stanley plans to add Bitcoin and cryptocurrency spot trading features to its electronic trading platform ETrade. The aim of the project is to allow ETrade's retail clients to directly buy and sell mainstream cryptocurrencies through their existing brokerage accounts. However, Bloomberg emphasizes that the plan is still in the preliminary planning stage.
The service is expected to launch as early as next year, which will be Morgan Stanley's largest layout in the field of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency services aimed at retail investors to date. The bank is currently exploring partnerships with existing professional companies to develop trading infrastructure, but specific partners have yet to be finalized.
With the Trump administration showing a more friendly regulatory attitude towards Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, more large financial institutions are willing to expand related services. Morgan Stanley has previously offered Bitcoin ETFs, futures, and options products to high-net-worth clients, but this will be the first time the bank introduces cryptocurrency trading services to the retail market.
Direct competition between traditional institutions and cryptocurrency exchanges
If the service is successfully launched, Morgan Stanley will directly compete with cryptocurrency-native exchanges such as Coinbase and Kraken. Additionally, other traditional financial companies are also conducting similar layouts. Reports indicate that Charles Schwab has previously expressed interest in entering Bitcoin and cryptocurrency spot trading, while SoFi is considering expanding its Bitcoin and other services.
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